Nothing But a Star

Nothing But a Star

Nothing But a Star is an eclectic mix of poetry, essays, song lyrics and more. Forming an exquisite scrapbook of moods, memories, counter-culture lore, literary hybridism and unschooled imagination, the book offers us a chance to linger in what J.G. Ballard (one of Reed’s admirers) called “the visionary present” – the imaginary future that exists already around us.

With poetry that perfectly captures moments of fascination and inspiration in London, an essay on the suicides of Hart Crane and Harry Crosby, a playscript for a version of The Picture of Dorian Gray set in the 21st century, a pop libretto written for Marc Almond and based on J-K Huysmans’ À rebours, Nothing But a Star is an assured marriage of decadence with the futuristic, glittering with the sequins of a pop culture sensibility.

About The Author

Jeremy Reed is a Jersey-born poet and novelist, dubbed by the Independent, “British poetry’s glam, spangly, shape-shifting answer to David Bowie”, and by Pete Doherty, “a legend”. Author of over fifty volumes of poetry (including Listening to Marc Almond and Patron Saint of Eye-Liner), fifteen novels (including Boy Caesar and Here Comes the Nice), and numerous volumes of non-fiction, Reed is known for his extraordinary imaginative gifts, his characteristic use of language like experience freshly recorded on the nervous system, and his visionary mining of subject matter outside the range of his contemporaries.

“Pop culture revivals and obsessive style nostalgia are extrapolated to an almost frightening degree in this speed-rush of music, drugs, and time-travel mysticism. … Reed’s portrayal of the 1960s—the clothes, the language, the sex, and the music—is surreal and perfect. He doesn’t shy from the queer side of mod culture and accurately portrays the legendary young bands as kids, both amateurish and brilliant. Either a critique of retro chic or its most extreme expression, this page-turner is a volume knob-turner as well.”